Monarchs face fixture headache after Ashfield derby washout

Edinburgh Monarchs' derby clash against Glasgow Tigers at Ashfield was called off yesterday morning due to heavy rain and it's unclear when the crucial encounter will be re-arranged.

Monarchs team manager Alex Harkess explained: “Glasgow say they have no free dates in their fixture list and are talking about running it on a midweek date, but the availability of riders could make that difficult.”

Edinburgh moved into contention for the end-of-season play-offs with a hefty 56-33 victory over the Tigers at Armadale on Friday, a far easier win than had been expected. They were hopeful of taking something from the return match.

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Monarchs were in rampant form at home and had the match wrapped up just after the halfway point when they led 40-14.

Added Harkess: “I thought we were absolutely brilliant over the first half of the meeting. I was delighted with our riders’ performances and their attitude. The riders praised the track and I have to congratulate our track staff – they had a tough day due to a torrential downpour at lunchtime.

“They removed the top surface and rebuilt the track and did a superb job.”

Monarchs No.1 Ricky Wells, who top scored with 13 points, said: “It was a tough meeting but a great result for us. We needed to win and we did. And a big shout to Joel (Andersson), who scored nine points at Sheffield on Thursday and did the same on Friday. He was superb.”

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Monarchs’ abandoned match against Berwick has been rearranged for Armadale on Friday, September 14. Monarchs’ next action is this weekend when they tackle fellow play-off hopefuls Workington Comets home and away.